Scorching heat, a shrewd Roberta Vinci and stomach-churning nausea conspired to knock CoCo Vandeweghe off her feet.
Pressing her palms against the court wincing, Vandeweghe got sick to her stomach behind the baseline and took treatment for nausea down 2-4 in the second set.
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Then the big-serving American scraped herself off the court and dug out a gritty 6-1, 7-6 (3) comeback victory over the 15th-seeded Vinci to advance to the Australian Open second round for the second time.
Vandeweghe's victory came after compatriot Shelby Rogers toppled fourth-seeded Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-1.
It was a contrast of styles pitting the 35th-ranked American’s power against the 2015 US Open finalist’s spins and angles.
A commanding Vandeweghe won nine of 11 first-serve points, clubbed 12 winners compared to one for Vinci and won six straight games powering through the opening set.
Mixing her spins and speeds, Vinci used her angled slice backhand to draw Vandeweghe forward in the second set.
Serving at 2-4, a sickened Vandeweghe dropped to a crouch on court. She took a near 10-minute medical time-out for treatment, while Vinci paced anxiously on her side of the net.
“I don’t know what was happening,” Vandeweghe said in her on-court interview afteward. “It wasn’t the heat or anything, I just started feeling nauseous. I can’t thank you guys enough for pushing me through that. Hopefully, I can recover in time for the next round.”
The medical break gave Vandeweghe time to recover. When play resumed, she ran off three straight games to get back in the set.
Vandeweghe, who cracked 32 winners compared to nine for Vinci, exploited three consecutive unforced errors to build a 5-2 lead in the tie break. Smacking her seventh ace, she reached match point. When Vinci missed a final forehand, a staggered Vandeweghe dropped to her knees and rolled over on her side.
The pair later shared a belated and brief handshake.
“It was a bit of nerves and also kind of just the moment of toughing it out for the last three or four games,” Vandeweghe said. “I knew if I just kept hanging in there, hanging in there maybe she’d give me an error or two. All that was important was getting that next service point and making her play on her next service point.”
Vandeweghe, who had lost in the opening round in four of her prior five Australian Open appearances, will play Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier in round two.
Photo credit: Hopman Cup